LONDON — Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said Wednesday that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson’s five-match touchline ban from the Football Association (FA) was too harsh.

Ferguson was hit with the penalty and a $48,000 (£30,000) fine following his outspoken attack on referee Martin Atkinson in the wake of his side’s loss to Chelsea in the English Premier League (EPL) last month.

Ancelotti said the punishment was too severe and that he did not understand what the governing body was hoping to achieve.

“Ferguson has always had good behavior and I think five games now is too much,” Ancelotti said.

“There is no reason he has to be out for five matches and I do not think that can change their strength and the power of Manchester United.”

Ferguson criticized Atkinson’s failure to send Blues defender David Luiz off for fouls on Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney after the Brazilian had already been booked, then expressed comments the FA disciplinary panel felt had questioned the official’s integrity.

“You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway — and we didn’t get that,” said Ferguson in the aftermath of the 2-1 defeat.

“I must say, when I saw who the referee was I feared it. I feared the worst.”

The length of the ban is in part due to the two-game suspended tariff he had hanging over his head for questioning the fitness of referee Alan Wiley last season.

It means Ferguson will be in the stands for United’s next four EPL games, starting with Bolton’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday.